


How to Move On

by SokkasGirl



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Depression, Ember Island, F/M, I can't think of anything else, Post-Avatar: The Last Airbender, Post-breakup, Sokka is depressed, idk what else to put
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-08
Updated: 2019-08-08
Packaged: 2020-08-11 19:23:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20158795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SokkasGirl/pseuds/SokkasGirl
Summary: Sokka takes a trip to Ember Island to reflect on his breakup with Suki.Takes place 7 years after ATLA. Sokka centric fic but Katara makes an appearance. Also, Sokka/Suki is tagged, but in my fic they're obviously broken up.





	How to Move On

**Author's Note:**

> I've been writing this for about a month and I've finally gotten it to a place where I feel happy posting it. I might make this into a collection of some sort but as of right now this is just going to be a singular thing. 
> 
> To clarify on what the story is about, Sokka reflects on his relationship and breakup with Suki. It goes through what he did and what he's thinking about now that they're not together. This takes place 7 years after the events of ATLA but I have not read any of the books that came after the show and my memory of LOK is fuzzy- I'm currently making my way through it again very very slowly. If anything is inaccurate for either ATLA or LOK, please let me know and I'll fix it. This fic is unbeta'd so all mistakes are mine. 
> 
> I rated this story Teen because there is cursing and some mentions of sex. I would also like to mention that Sokka is depressed in this fic. It is minor depression, but I figured I give a warning just in case. Tags will be added as needed, let me know if I've missed something that should be tagged.
> 
> Also, I didn't know what the hell to call this story so the title might change.
> 
> Enjoy! :)

The breakup with Suki had been a longtime coming, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. He and Suki had been together, properly, since right before he turned sixteen. Logically, Sokka knew that when you start a relationship that young, it was unlikely that the relationship would actually last a lifetime. But he had hoped it would. And he genuinely thought that they would be one of the acceptions.

But now, seven years later, their relationship was over. And when you’ve given everything of yourself to one person for so long, it makes a guy wonder what the hell he was going to do with his life. Because facing the facts, Sokka was only twenty three years old. He wasn’t old by any means. He was in the prime of his life! He should be going out and having adventures that he’d tell his grandchildren about some day. 

Except, he’d already done that. He already had a thousand and one stories to tell any future grandchildren that he might have. He had actually been fully prepared to live through his twenties as a councilman in peace and quiet- well as much peace and quiet as you can get when you’re trying to help repair a hundred years worth of war damage. 

Iroh liked to tell him that he often “forgets himself”. ‘You put too much pressure on yourself’, he says. And it's because of his knack for seeing things the way they are, that the first person Sokka told of the breakup was, in fact, Iroh. 

The man was old and a little goofy sometimes, but he had a good heart and he had the kind of wisdom that was derived from what was probably a lifetime of poor choices and hard learned lessons. Sokka liked to joke that someday Zuko would be the Iroh of their generation. Zuko didn’t appreciate the joke all that much though Iroh certainly did. 

Sokka had asked Aang if he could borrow Appa so he could get to Ba Sing Se as quickly as possible. And after a fumbled half-assed excuse as to why he needed to get there so quickly, Sokka had been sat in the back room of the Jasmine Dragon staring into a cup of their famous Jasmine tea in two days time. 

Sokka spent most of his talk with Iroh holding back tears as Iroh comforted him and regaled him with stories from past romances and advice he learned from each one. Iroh reminded him that he had so much to live for. He was young and most people his age hadn’t already gotten themselves into such a serious relationship. And he supposed Iroh was right- twenty three year olds were normally just learning how to navigate through their first serious relationship, not experiencing the devastating after effects of the breakup. 

There was plenty of time for Sokka to find another person to be with, but he also knew that he was completely entitled to spend some time grieving the loss of his relationship. 

And that’s why he went to Toph next. 

Toph was tough. At 19 years old, she was regarded as the world’s greatest earthbender. She ran the first and only academy for metalbending and she was the head of the reformation of the police department. Sokka had to admit, Toph was pretty fucking badass- she always had been. 

Going to Toph next seemed like a no brainer. She might not have been the most sensitive person in the world, but she was great at listening and somehow always managed to tell Sokka exactly what he needed to hear. 

When her advice lined up with Iroh’s, it was all the motivation Sokka needed to take some time off from the council to reevaluate his life. 

Now, Sokka was on Ember Island. He had been here for the better part of the past week having gone to Zuko directly asking if he could stay at his family home on the island. He was more than happy to give Sokka permission and was quick to assure him that he wouldn’t tell Katara or Aang where he was. 

He’d been gone for two weeks and he was sure they were worried about him, especially since Sokka still had Appa. Aang definitely had expected him to be back by now. But he had been so exhausted from going from city to city with not much break in between, he hadn’t wanted to go through the trouble of finding another way to the island. Plus if he took Appa back then he was sure Katara would interrogate him as to why he took Appa in the first place. He didn’t need to deal with her butting into his business- not right now. So here he was, avoiding the people he cared about most by hiding out on Ember Island, taking care of Appa who he stole from the Avatar noless. Sokka knew he wasn’t being reasonable, but he was too numb to care. 

The island brought back a rush of amazing memories that made Sokka simultaneously nostalgic and incredibly sad. But Ember Island had a way of showing you the truth, and that’s exactly what Sokka needed. 

As he walked along the beach, Sokka reflected on the past seven years. There had once been a time where he never thought he’d see Suki again. They met on Kyoshi Island and when he left, he thought that was that- goodbye Suki. But then they crossed paths again when they were trying to get to Ba Sing Se and after that Sokka had the feeling she’d be in his life for a long time. 

And he was right. 

Once he rescued her from the Boiling Rock, they were practically joined at the hip. It felt like the most natural thing in the world for him and Suki to get together. They had a silent mutual agreement that they were a couple, no conversation needed. Everybody just knew what they were to each other. Sokka and Suki. Suki and Sokka. It just sounded right. 

Suki was Sokka’s first love. She was the best partner Sokka could ever want out of life and it made his heart ache thinking about how they were through. 

Sokka plopped down in the sand and stared out over the ocean. Why did things have to take this turn? 

But Sokka knew the answer. Their relationship had been on the rocks for about a year but neither one of them had been willing to admit it out loud. He couldn’t completely speak for Suki, but he didn’t want to let go of the familiarity that came with their relationship. There was an ease about it. The kind of ease that comes from a couple who has been together for a very long time. But just because there was ease and a sense of familiarity between them, didn’t mean the relationship was easy. 

They had started to fight a lot. It had started out with small squabbles that were easy to work out. But then squabbles started to escalate into full blown arguments that got to the point where they would hardly even look at each other for days. 

Sokka couldn’t remember exactly when he realized things just weren't working out, but he remembers the look on Suki’s face when she did. 

After that, the ease went away. Everything they did clashed. According to Iroh, when couples start out dating so young, they grow together. But that doesn’t always mean they grow in the same direction. They both wanted so much out of life. 

But Suki wanted to focus on her career. She told Sokka that she didn’t mind getting married now, like he wanted, but she didn’t want kids until she was at least in her 30s. Sokka tried to be okay with that, really he did. He knew he should be happy that she wanted kids at all. But he couldn’t deny that he could feel his heart sink with her words. 

He always imagined that they’d get married and start trying for a family right away. Growing up, he had always been taught that family was the most important thing in the world and the familial ways of the Southern Water Tribe never quite left him. 

But Suki didn’t grow up like that. 

While family was important, she wasn’t ready to have kids. Sokka was her family and that was good enough for her until the time presented itself where she would be ready to take on the responsibility of parenthood. And Sokka understood that. 

He didn’t want to force her to have a family. Afterall, she’d be the one to carry their children. She’d be the one who’d have to take time off of work. She’d have to put a pause on everything she’d worked so hard for and he didn’t want her to resent him or the children they’d have because Sokka wanted her to put having a family over her career. It wasn’t fair to her. And he loved and respected Suki way too much to do that to her. 

Then there was the fact that Sokka wanted at least three kids and wanting them sooner rather than later had caused an argument that lead to Sokka staying at the Fire Nation Palace for a week. Then suddenly arguments like that happened more and more frequently. 

Sokka rubbed his forehead trying to get rid of the headache that he could feel building up between his eyes. The sun was just starting to set and he despite his best efforts, it reminded him of Suki. 

Oddly enough, the day they broke up had started out to be one of the best days Sokka had had in a long time. Suki had been back at the house for the first time after about four days of crashing at a friend’s place on Kyoshi Island. They were civil towards each other and for the first time in about a month Suki had told Sokka that she loved him. Her words had led to what would turn out to be their very last time sleeping together, not that he knew that at the time. 

It was hesitant in a way that it hadn’t been since they first started having sex. But it was familiar and warm and it felt like coming home. It had led him to truly believe that everything would be okay. 

The rest of the day had been spent lazing around the house. They hadn’t really spoken much but the ease that they had been missing for so long somehow returned. Suki had stood behind Sokka, arms wrapped around his waist as she watched him cooked them lunch. He had admired her effortless elegance as she made them tea and was in awe over the care she took while pouring him his cup, as dumb as that may sound. He just could never get over how beautiful she was. 

Then they had sat curled up on their couch reminiscing about the old days. 

It had been perfect. 

But then Suki asked if they could take a walk. 

They hadn’t walked very far, just a couple blocks up the road to a park that was nearly empty. It had been nearing on six o’clock and there weren’t too many kids who stayed out playing that late. They had walked hand and hand to a bench and watched the sun set over the trees. They sat in silence, enjoying each other’s company for about thirty minutes until Suki spoke up. 

When their eyes met Sokka immediately knew what she was going to say. While it wasn’t a surprise that she wanted to break things off, Sokka had thought that things were going to start getting better. They had had such a good day and it had given him so much hope for the future. But with that one look, with the sadness in her eyes and the apology written all over her face, Sokka knew it was over. 

They had walked back to the house in silence, Suki trying not to cry and Sokka keeping his head turned away from her so she wouldn’t see the tears. When they got to the house, he held the door open for her like he always did. She walked passed him silently and started walking up the stairs that led to their room. At first, Sokka didn’t follow. He assumed he’d be sleeping on the couch and then they’d figure everything out in the morning, but Suki beckoned him to follow her. They slept in the same bed- Suki in his arms as they both cried themselves to sleep. Sometimes he could still feel the way her right hand had gripped his shirt in her fist as they tried to fall asleep that night. 

When Sokka woke up the next morning, Suki was gone. All of her belongings were nowhere to be seen. At first Sokka thought that he was having some sort of nightmare that it couldn’t possibly be real. But after half an hour of frantically searching the house for any sign of anything that was Suki’s, he accepted that it was real and she was gone. It was technically his house after all. He was the one who owned it. It made sense that she'd be the one to leave. 

After that, Sokka had gone straight to Aang, hardly remembering to pack a bag of his own to bring with him. 

Now, two weeks later, he had basically stolen Appa from Aang and was crying on a beach under the newly risen moon. Sokka could hardly believe it had already been two weeks since the breakup. Somehow it feels like it’s been longer yet at the same time like it just happened yesterday. 

For some reason, the moon seemed to be glowing extra bright tonight. Sokka almost felt as though Yue was trying to comfort him, or maybe that’s just what he wanted it to be. 

“Yue?” Sokka whispered. “How are you doing up there? It’s been awhile since we’ve spoken but as I’m sure you know, a lot has happened.” He angrily wiped away a tear that managed to make its down his face. 

“I hate that I feel this way. I knew we were going to breakup. I think everyone did,” Sokka sighed. “Literally no one was surprised when I told them we broke up.” He stared out at the water watching the moonlight dance across it. “Sometimes I wish you were still here. The past two weeks have made me think more than usual about what could have happened if you never had to sacrifice yourself. I don’t know if we would have ever been together or how much would be different. But I’d like to think I’d be a lot happier than I feel right now.” With teary eyes, Sokka looked back up at the moon. 

“But I also hate thinking that because if we had been together, I might not have ever been with Suki. And I can’t imagine what my life would have been like without her,” Sokka choked back a sob. “I don’t know what to do anymore. My whole life was planned around her. I never thought we’d breakup. I’m at a loss, Yue. I need help,” Sokka whispered half way resigning to spend the night sitting in heap in the sand.

When Sokka finally decided to get up from the ground, it was well past midnight. He mindlessly tried to wipe away some of the sand that clung to him as he walked with heavy footsteps back to the house. 

The next morning, Sokka woke up to a pounding on the door. In his sleep induced haze, he half thought that maybe it was Suki coming to ask for him to come home so they could be together again. But the other half thought it was some Fire Nation soldier wanting to capture Aang. Those two thoughts wrestled in his mind until he finally managed to sit up properly and take note of where he was. When the pounding on the door didn’t stop, he sluggishly made his way to answer it. 

If it weren’t for the fact that she was all but blowing steam out of her ears, he would have thought Katara was a figment of his imagination.

“Where the hell have you been?” She shouted, not even waiting for an answer before pushing her way past him into the house. Nope, Sokka thought, definitely not a figment of his imagination. “We have been worried sick about you!” She yelled, rounding on him. She all but pushing him into the door. “You leave with Appa in a state of mind that Aang really shouldn’t have let you take him in. Then you leave to Ba Sing Se only to leave there and not tell anyone where you were going. What the hell Sokka?” 

The onslaught of yelling snapped Sokka out of whatever sleep induced haze he had been wandering around in. “Katara I-”

“No!” She cut him off. “You don’t get to talk. You get to listen.” She grabbed him by the arm and forcefully pushed him onto the nearest couch. The only thing keeping him from trying to get back up was the glare she was giving him. Boy, if looks could kill.

“You stole Appa. You said you’d have him back a week ago. Aang’s been beside himself thinking he handed off his best friend to someone who was emotionally unstable. And then when you didn’t come back- Sokka, I was out of my mind with worry.” The fact that she sounded like she was trying not to cry was the only thing that gave away the fact that she wasn’t as angry as she wanted him to believe. 

“We were thinking about sending out a search party or something. We thought you had been kidnapped- or worse! But then a messenger hawk came from Zuko. He told us you were here.” Sokka bristled. 

“That traitor,” he scowled. “He promised he wouldn’t say anything.”

“Sokka,” Katara said urgently. “He said you weren’t in your right mind. He was worried. And he should be. I mean look at you,” she said, gesturing to his state of dress. He hadn’t bothered changing out of his clothes from the day before. He knew he had sand in his hair and his clothes were definitely a little more than wrinkled. 

“He said you and Suki broke up,” she said carefully, taking a seat next to him. She had that look on her face, that motherly look that she got when she wanted someone to open up to her. The one that could get anyone to reveal their deepest darkest secrets. 

“Yeah, and?” Sokka asked. “What do you want me to say? It was a long time coming.” He tried to keep the hurt out of his voice, but he couldn’t even finish the sentence without his voice cracking.

“Oh, Sokka.” Katara pulled him into a bone crushing hug and he let himself be held. He didn’t know exactly how long they sat there or when he had started crying, but eventually she let go and his face had that gross sticky feeling of drying tears. 

“I don’t know what to do,” he admitted. “Ever since the end of the war, she was the only person I could imagine spending the rest of my life with. I know things haven’t been going great for a long time now, but I always assumed things would fix themselves and we’d be okay again.” Katara placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “I guess I was wrong.”

“Sokka, sometimes people just grow apart. This kind of thing is natural.” Sokka rolled his eyes.

“It didn’t happen with you and Aang,” Sokka pointed out. “You guys have been together just as long and you guys were even younger than Suki and I were! You guys are even married. And I bet you’re going to have lots and lots of babies who can bend all four elements. You guys are perfect for each other,” he pouted. When Sokka looked back at Katara, she had a hesitant smile on her face.

“Actually, Sokka. There’s something I need to tell you. Now, I don’t want to alarm you. And I don’t want to diminish the importance of how you’re feeling right now, and, spirits, I really probably should have waited until you were feeling better to tell you-”

“Hey,” Sokka, cut in trying to give her a reassuring smile. “You can tell me anything. I’m your big brother. I can handle it.”

Katara drew in a deep breath before saying, “I’m pregnant.” Sokka’s jaw hit the floor. Pregnant. His sister was pregnant. 

“You’re pregnant,” Sokka repeated, the information not quite computing in his brain.

“Yes,” Katara confirmed, with a small smile adorning her face.

“You need to have sex to get pregnant,” Sokka said dumbly.

Katara’s face went red. “Uh, yeah, Sokka. That’s how it works.”

“You had sex with Aang,” he clarified.

“Well, he is my husband,” she reminded him, slightly uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation.

“Right.” He nodded. “Right, so, I’m gonna kill him.”

“What? Sokka, no!” Katara said, yanking him back onto the couch when he tried to march out of the house.

“But he got you pregnant!” Sokka explained. “You’re my sister! How could he do that to me?” he whined.

Katara gently placed her hand over his. “Sokka, Aang is my husband. This was hardly the first time we’ve had sex. And anyway, this was bound to happen sooner or later, especially since we’ve been actively trying to get pregnant.”

Sokka yanked his hand from under hers and covered his ears. “I really don’t need to hear about how much sex you guys have been having, Katara!” 

“Actually, we only needed to have sex twice before I got pregnant. It usually doesn’t take very long if you time it right,” Katara explained.

“Okay, ew,” Sokka gagged. “I don’t need to know about my little sister’s sex life.”

Katara crossed her arms. “You’re the one who brought it up. I was just trying to tell you I’m pregnant. You’re the one who started talking about sex.” 

“Ugh, can we just drop it?” Sokka asked suddenly feeling exhausted. He did not need to hear about this right now. He did not want to hear about how one of his best friends in the world slept with his sister, and got her pregnant.

“Sokka, I know you’re hurting,” Katara said, probably having sensed Sokka’s sudden change in demeanor. “But when you’re feeling like this, you need to be around family. Not running off to an island to be by yourself to wallow in misery.”

Sokka scoffed, slightly offended. “I am not wallowing. I don’t wallow, thank you very much.”

Katara raised an eyebrow at him. “Then what do you call the thing you’ve been doing the past couple of weeks?”

“Uh, taking a vacation, duh.” 

“A vacation, huh? You’re by yourself. Right after your breakup. Avoiding the people who care about you the most. Vacation, my ass. Please come home, Sokka,” Katara begged. “Come back to the city, stay with me and Aang. We can help you work through this. I’ll even make you some sea prunes.” 

“While that is a very enticing offer, I just really don’t want to see anyone right now,” Sokka admitted. “Not even you.” Katara frowned.

“I just want to help-” Sokka held up a hand, effectively cutting her off.

“I know you do. And I know you are all worried about me. But I came to Ember Island to one, avoid you guys and two, rediscover myself. Ember Island is great at showing the truth, and I need to be honest with myself about what I want and need out of the future.” Katara looked taken aback. 

“That’s actually very mature of you Sokka. I’m impressed.” He tried not to be too hurt by that statement, knowing that he had a streak of behaving quite immaturely. She didn’t mean anything by it, she even was smiling a little, but with his emotions running all over the place, he couldn’t deny that the comment stung.

“I am capable of being mature from time to time, Katara,” he said, trying to play it off as if he were joking, but it fell flat. Maybe his immaturity was why he and Suki couldn’t work things out. Maybe it was his fault.

“I’m serious, though, Sokka. Come stay with me and Aang. We have plenty of space for you on the Island,” Katara insisted.

Now Sokka was starting to get angry. “I told you, I don’t want to be around you right now.”

“But Sokka, you need to be around family.” Katara’s voice was starting to rise. Damn it, the last thing he wanted was a screaming match. But he couldn’t help it when his voice started getting louder too.

“I don’t want to be around you and Aang!” Sokka shouted, standing up.

“Why not?” Katara, screamed back. 

“Because you’re pregnant!”

“What?” Katara asked, startled. 

“I don’t want to be around you and Aang because you’re pregnant,” Sokka confessed, feeling a little sheepish. He knew how stupid it sounded. 

“So, what? You’re going to avoid us for six months till I have the baby?” Katara asked, incredulously.

“No.” Sokka, crossed his arms and slumped back onto the couch. Katara knelt in front of him. 

“Sokka, help me understand,” she asked softly. “I can’t read your mind.”

Sokka clenched his eyes shut, deciding that it’d be easier to talk about it if he couldn’t see her face.

“You and Aang have everything I ever wanted with Suki,” Sokka whispered.

“How do you mean?”

“You and Aang are married,” he replied. “And now you’re pregnant. You’re gonna start a family.” Sokka could feel his throat getting tight. “I think that’s part of why Suki and I weren’t working. We wanted different things. Well the same thing but at different times.”

“Sokka-”

“No, let me finish.” He took a second to rub the tears out of his eyes and get his bearings. He could do this. He needed to talk about it. “I wanted to get married- now. She was fine with that, but she didn’t want to start a family immediately, if ever. But I did. I was okay with waiting but when it became clear that there was a real possibility that we might never have kids, I didn’t know what to do.” Katara nodded, encouraging him to continue.

“Maybe I handled everything too immaturely, I don’t know. But after that, we started fighting about everything. Ya know, I wanted to start a family maybe back home in the South Pole or maybe even Kyoshi Island. But she wanted to stay in the City or maybe move to the Fire Nation Capital. She was thinking about joining Zuko’s guard, Zuko had offered her a position, which opened up the whole thing of us moving to the Fire Nation in the first place. But then what would happen to my career? We were constantly fighting about it.”

“Then we started to argue about what time we should go to bed,” Sokka said, starting to get worked up. “And about the other person making too much noise in the morning when the other was finally able to sleep in. And then there were things said about chores not getting done and who’s turn it was to do them. Or cooking! She always wanted me to cook when she is a way better cook than me, but I was always the one that had to cook. She didn’t see a problem with that but it takes a long time to prepare a good meal and I’m a busy man. I can’t just put off doing work because I need to make dinner,” he huffed. "But she was busy too and we just ended up going in circles."

“We just argued about everything. And then the one day I finally thought things would start getting better, she breaks up with me. And even though I wasn’t completely surprised, it still hurt. It still hurts,” Sokka whispered. “The funny thing is, I keep being reminded by people that I’m young. I’ve been told that there is still plenty of time for me to find love again and make mistakes and explore new relationships and all that crap. But I don’t want a new relationship or to make mistakes. I want Suki.”

“I honestly don’t know what to say.” Katara looked ashamed. Sokka wanted to tell her that it’s okay that she didn't have a way to fix his heart. It’s okay that she didn't have a response. But he felt that if he opened his mouth and started talking again, he’d just break down in tears. 

“I wish gran-gran were here,” Katara sighed. “Or even Iroh. They always know what to say.”

After that, they didn’t speak much. Katara spent some time with Appa while Sokka contemplated what Katara had said. And after grueling over it all day, Sokka decided he’d go back to Air Temple Island with Katara. He needed to bring Appa back and maybe she had a point. Maybe he needed to spend time with his family.

**Author's Note:**

> I would like to mention, I do have other stories. If you're a fan of Spider-Man (Tom Holland), Newsies (more Broadway than movie), Travelers, Danny Phantom, or Harry Potter (Marauders Era), feel free to go check out my other fics. I would like to mention that I don't update regularly. I know, I know, that sucks. But I feel that it's better to write as I feel inspired or motivated to do so. I don't want to hold myself to a schedule because then, honestly, nothing would ever get done and I'd be stressing myself out. All my fics are written for fun but I do care about them a lot so I want to make sure I like what I'm posting and that I'm not feeling pressured to get anything up. 
> 
> That being said, I would love to continue writing this side of Sokka and going through the aftermath if the breakup now that he's going back to Air Temple Island. I don't know when I'd get around to writing it, but if anybody is interested in some form of continuation with this fic, please let me know! And if no one is, then I might do it anyway lol
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my story! Thanks for reading :)


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